CriAPTER II 



LAWNS AND GRASS PLOTS 



'■' The lawn is the heart of the true British garden.'' 



WiLLif\M Robinson. 



For some reason the English cottager is not good to his 

 grass plot. Now and then we see the turf cared for as 

 it should be, but as a rule it is neglected, weed-grown, 

 and unkempt. The practice of leaving things to them- 

 selves, so often productive of charm where hardy flower 

 borders and free-growing climbers are concerned, is 

 fatal to the appearance of a lawn, which can only be 

 beautiful when regularly tended. Nothing degenerates 

 more quickly than once-mown turf ; nothing gives a 

 garden a sadder or more desolate aspect. If all culture 

 were suspended for a year among the beds and borders 

 and only the grass was regularly rolled, cut, and swept, 

 the garden would still look a garden ; the idea that it 

 was used and appreciated, that labour was given cheer- 

 fully, would still prevail. So great a return does the 

 lawn make for the care that is bestowed upon it, that 

 although we should remark the weed-strewn borders 

 and the wild tangle of the rose bushes, we should be far 

 from saying that the garden was a wilderness, or that it 

 meant nothing to its owners. Reverse the conditions 

 and surround a neglected lawn with flower borders 

 scrupulously kept, and not even their beauty will redeem 

 the general impression that the place is unsought, unloved, 

 forgotten. A garden lawn is a decorative feature which 



